Accessible technology is now a dream come true

CHENNAI: Vidya Sagar, a city-based NGO for children and adults with special needs, recently released two devices — Vboss and Vinner. Vboss is a switch that enables the left click of the mouse and Vinner is the USB interface for a switch. “This is a path-breaking innovation and the best part is that it is cost effective. It was indeed a Eureka moment for us.

There is a necessity and importance to recognise the need for technology, considering the limited amount of resources that are available to people with special needs, and hence make technology accessible to all,” said Rajul Padmanabhan, director of Vidya Sagar.

It all started when Nandhini Botta, an electrical engineer from the USA, who is also the sister of a person with limited functional communication, came up with a prototype of these two devices. “Every time I come back home from the USA my mother gives me a list of things that she wants me to get for Vidya Sagar, mostly devices, because they are available at a cheaper price there. However, this time I didn’t get some of them.

Just to make her happy, I used some simple tools that I had in my kit and made a simple device, which along with Balaji, IT Coordinator and Sujatha Siva, special educator and engineer, later on developed into Vboss and Vinner,” said Nandhini who was present on a Skype call during the launch. The chief guest for the event was Bhaskar Ramamurthi, director, IIT, Madras. The device can be connected to PCs, phones, cameras and even toys, and allows it to function with just a tap.

Among their various other missions, Vidya Sagar has always been welcoming and accepting newer and innovative aids that would help make life interesting for People with Disability (PwD). They have collaborated with IIT, Anna University and even Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, in the past, and have introduced a number of technological devices which has made it easy for PwDs.